Those Who Bear the Name of Dragons
by Leo Septem
Summary: The Last Dragonborn, christened Ysmir by the Greybeards, has been sent hurtling through time and space by his foe, Alduin. Now, he meets those that take up the name of dragons in the new era: Dragonslayers.
1. Time Skip

"This is the end, Alduin!" Ysmir roared as he swung his sword down on the enormous, black-winged wyrm.

The sword, crafted of the impossibly hard bones of the dov – the dragons – sliced through Alduin's hard scales with impossible ease, sprouting a fresh wound on the body of the firstborn of the dovah – dragon. Alduin howled in pain, his voice reverberating throughout the far-reaching corners of Sovngarde.

"Niid! Zu'u Alduin faal sahrot!" Alduin roared as he lashed out with his jaws, attempting to bite the Dovahkiin and rip him apart with his fangs.

Ysmir raised his large, broad shield and winced as he braced himself against the physical might of the dreadful dragon. Though Alduin was unable to clamp his jaw around the shield, he struck it like a warhammer stronger than that of any giant's, and Ysmir staggered backwards a step. Had it not been for the ethereal set of dragon armor enveloping his own, more mundane set of dragonbone armor, he would surely have been sent flying backwards, despite blocking. This ethereal armor, a product of his Dragon Aspect Shout, granted him the ability to take on the power and aspect of a dragon, granting him the impossible strength and durability of one of the dov, as well as greatly strengthening his own Thu'um – the Dragon Shouts.

Ysmir concentrated his essence, the very fiber of his being, into his breath. And with that breath, he spoke to the world, bidding it to change unto his will. He Shouted.

"Fo Krah Diin!"

A torrent of ice and cold was made manifest, and it followed in the wake of Ysmir's Shout. That concentrated blizzard raged forth and collided with Alduin, who, in his rage, retaliated with his own Shout. Raging fire screamed forth from Alduin's open jaw, and it melted away at Ysmir's ice and cold. Narrowly, Ysmir managed to roll to the side in order to avoid the river of flames.

"Take this, foul worm!" Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, one of the three spirits of heroes who resided in Shor's Hall that volunteered to support Ysmir vanquish their ancient foe, screamed. She swung her sword at Alduin's eye, causing him to scream once more in pain as he was blinded by the ancient Nord heroine.

The other two heroes, Felldir the Old and Hakon One-Eye, pressed their own attack, causing Alduin to turn his attention to them. However, it was evident that this long battle had taken their toll on them. They looked weary, even though they were spirits, and were sporting fresh injuries all over their bodies. This would be the final assault, Ysmir decided.

"Heroes!" Ysmir called out. "Hold fast!"

Dropping his sword and shield, Ysmir concentrated his magicka into one of the most destructive spells he knew of. So powerful was this spell that while preparing to cast it, the magicka visibly transformed into sparks of lightning that danced all along his arms. It took him nearly five seconds to finish preparing the spell – a completely unreasonable amount of time in normal combat, but one that was possible thanks to the presence of his powerful and trustworthy allies. Thanks to them distracting Alduin, Ysmir successfully finished preparing his spell and unleashed it.

True to its name, a storm of lightning raged forth from Ysmir's hands and struck Alduin in a large, but concentrated beam of crackling light. Elemental energy in its purest, most destructive form coursed through the World Eater's body, and though he possessed great resistance to magic, a trait shared by many of his kind, not even he could withstand this powerful assault.

A wordless shout sprang from Alduin's maw, but this time Ysmir heard something very clearly in his voice; something that had always been present, but very well hidden until now: fear.

Alduin was going to die, and he knew it.

Sweat dripped down Ysmir's brow as the strain of maintaining the spell started to affect him. He could feel his magicka draining fast, and it would soon be impossible for him to continue casting the spell. Before then, he needed to kill Alduin.

_Die, damn you!_ Ysmir screamed in his thoughts. _Die!_

However, Alduin proved too resilient, and when the last drop of Ysmir's magicka ran out, Alduin remained alive – but not unscathed. Alduin was visibly trembling from the numerous injuries he had suffered, both new and old. This was his chance, Ysmir thought. Now was the time to strike down Alduin!

Grabbing his sword and shield, Ysmir sprinted forward, raising his sword to bring down the deathblow on Alduin's neck.

"Zu'u unslaad!" Alduin roared. "Zu'u nis oblaan!"

With that, a wave of pure force erupted from Alduin's jaw, and Ysmir felt as though he was slammed by a full-power swing of a giant's club, and though he was clad in the armor of the Dragon Aspect, he was still sent flying backward.

"Dovahkiin! I shall not die! Not here, not by you!" Alduin screamed, deigning to use the Nordic tongue such that Ysmir might understand. "Begone! I banish you, as my ancient enemies had once done to I! Wah Gut Tiid!"

"Dragonborn!" Felldir shouted. "Look out!"

Too late, a Shout of prismatic colors erupted from Alduin's jaws and slammed into Ysmir. He felt himself be hurtled back with force far greater than that of Alduin's previous Shout. And then Ysmir, the Last Dragonborn, disappeared from Sovngarde.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

An earsplitting sound resounded through the air, causing Wendy to look up with a start. All around her, the members of Fairy Tail, wounded from their clash with the dark guild, Grimoire Heart, but freshly healed due to her magic, looked up as well with a look of confusion.

"What is that?" Gray said as he whirled around, trying to find the source of the noise that seemed to be coming from every direction.

"It's so damn loud!" Elfman shouted as he pressed his hands against his ears in order to mitigate the severity of the noise.

Wendy, on the other hand, felt her eyes go wide as she understood what this sound was coming from. There was only one other person there besides Wendy that understood what this sound heralded: her fellow Dragonslayer, Gajeel Redfox. And of all those there, only he remained silent, his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists as he faced towards the direction of the noise.

It meant only one thing and one thing only.

"The cry of a dragon..." Wendy said incredulously, as if unable to believe it herself despite knowing it to be true.

"Eh?" Levy said with an expression of shock.

"A dragon!?" Lisanna said, also with a surprised look.

From down an open path in the forest, a group of her guildmates came running towards them. They consisted of Gildarts, Lucy, Cana, Happy, and the Fire Dragonslayer, Natsu Dragneel.

"Hey! Is everyone okay?" Natsu shouted as they ran over to them.

"He must be from back then," Gildarts muttered with a grim, knowing look on his face.

"Look! Up in the sky!" Panther Lily, Gajeel's Exceed partner, cried out as he pointed towards a black shadow that had appeared high above them.

All of the members of Fairy Tail looked up, and their expressions all turned to one of horror and dread.

"A... A real live dragon?" Wendy trembled in fear, as her friends and comrades around her let out similar statements of disbelief.

Though Wendy had known a dragon before, having been raised for much of her relatively short life by one, this one was different. She could sense it. Grandine had been kind and motherly. This one felt as if he was a black sun, dawning only to bring swift and terrible death on all who its light touched.

Then, Master Makarov uttered the phrase that brought even Wendy to her knees in fear.

"Acnologia," he nearly whispered, though his voice still permeated the air around all of them, such that they all heard him as clearly as if he were right next to them. "The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse."

Wendy knew only a little of the dragon termed Acnologia. In the books she had once borrowed from Levy, it had said that Acnologia was the dragon that ended previous era, destroying everything utterly. Though it failed to go more in depth than that, it had described enough so that Wendy knew of the terrible power that dragon possessed. The only problem?

That book had been about myths and legends.

It appeared, then, that Acnologia was not so mythical after all.

"Hey you!" Natsu shouted at the dragon audaciously. "You know where Igneel is, don't you!? And Metalicana and Grandine too!"

Instead of answering, the dragon began descending with terrible swiftness, landing on a hill overlooking Fairy Tail's encampment with such force that the very ground beneath him was shattered. To describe it in its fullness... Wendy could not find the proper words for it. It was large. Definitely large. Larger by far than that of Grandine. And it was nearly completely black, save for its eyes which glowed a burning, hellish red. More, it practically radiated with its awesome power, as if issuing a single, silent command: die.

The black dragon roared, causing waves of kinetic pressure to lash outwards. Such was the power of its roar that the stone and trees nearest to it broke and fell to the ground.

The dragon looked down at them, and it was then that those of Fairy Tail understood.

They were going to die.

Fear was plain in all of them, such that they all froze even as the dragon flew up into the air and dived down at them.

"RUN FOR IT!" Gildarts shouted, managing to regain his composure faster than everyone else.

Too late, however. The dragon slammed into the ground, causing the earth to collapse in on itself and form a crater.

"RUN TO THE SHIPS!" Gildarts roared out the evacuation order, even as the other guild members were screaming hysterically at the level of damage the dragon was causing.

"Wendy!" Charle, Wendy's Exceed partner, cried from beside her as they began running towards the ships. "You can talk to dragons, can't you? Can't you do something about this?"

"No, I can't!" Wendy replied hysterically. "Dragons all have high levels of intelligence, so he should be able to understand us, but he doesn't want to!"

Yes, though that dragon could very probably understand everything they were saying, it paid them, the mages of Fairy Tail, the same amount of attention and regard that one might give to a fly they were trying to swat out of the air. That, Wendy thought vaguely in the back of her mind, was actually a very good comparison of the current circumstance. To that dragon, they were but flies that it was trying to swat and kill.

Glancing over her shoulder, Wendy saw something that made her freeze. Makarov, master of Fairy Tail, had stopped and was facing the dragon. All around her, the other members of Fairy Tail had noticed as well and reacted the same way.

"What are you doing, Master?" Erza cried out. "We need to keep running!"

"All of you," Makarov said. "Keep running. And don't look back."

"No way!" Natsu shouted back angrily. "If you're staying, we're staying too!"

"Listen to me, you shitty brats!" Makarov roared angrily. "This is your Master's orders! Now obey them and run!"

Tears began welling up in Wendy's eyes as she understood what the master was saying; what he was trying to do. It was true that Master Makarov was the only person who could possibly slow down the dragon long enough for the rest of them to escape, but in doing so, he would surely die. Even if he wasn't wounded from the fight with Grimoire Heart, that dragon was simply too strong for even Makarov. But the master, being the person that he was, was more than willing to make that self-sacrifice.

But surely he understood what this meant to the rest of them? He was, to all of them, their father, in spirit though not in blood. And what children could simply stand to run away and leave their father behind to die for them? Impossible. It was completely impossible.

As Wendy blinked the tears out of her eyes, she noticed something strange. Despite the fact that it should have had more than enough time to do so, the dragon had not been attacking. In fact, now that she was looking at it, it had frozen completely, and was instead looking upward at the sky.

"Everyone!" Wendy called out. "Look, the dragon. It stopped."

"Eh?" Charle said as she looked at the dragon as well. "You're right, Wendy. But... why?"

"It looks like it's... expecting something," Wendy said. "From the sky?"

Looking upward, Wendy noticed something equally strange happening up in the heavens. While the rest of the sky was still blue and clear, save for a few clouds, there was a single, large circle that appeared as if it had been inscribed into the sky. It was pitch black like the void, and a faint sound could be heard coming out of it.

Then, something fell out of that circle of infinite blackness. No, rather, it was as if it had been ejected out, and the circle quickly disappeared after doing so. Wendy squinted to get a better look at it. It looked like... a person?

There was a crashing noise as whatever the circle had spat out landed on the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust that made it impossible to see. Thankfully, it quickly dispersed, and Wendy got her first look at what had come out of that gate in the sky.

She had been right. It was a person. Judging by his build and size, Wendy guessed that he was probably a man, though it was hard to tell from the armor he wore. That armor looked as though it was made of old and weathered bones, and his sword and shield were made of similar materials. More interestingly, however, clad over that bone armor was what appeared to be armor made of ethereal light. Who this man was, Wendy did not know. What she did know was that she could feel the same sensation she got from Acnologia or Grandine.

Dragon.

"Alduin!" the stranger roared.

The words that came next out of the man's mouth was in a language that Wendy had never heard before, and she was unable to make sense of it. It seemed, however, that the dragon did understand, because, to Wendy and the rest of Fairy Tail's shock, the dragon spoke back.

"Dovahkiin!" the dragon said in such a way that if it were a person, Wendy just knew that it would have had a look of complete and utter hatred on its face. The kind of hatred reserved only for one's sworn enemy, their life's nemesis. That, and there was something else she could sense in the dragon's voice as well: fear. And in the same, unknowable language as the stranger, the dragon continued speaking for a short time.

Whatever was said between the two must have truly angered the man, because he roared with such pure hate and vitriol that Wendy unconsciously flinched back a step.

With a savage cry, the man dashed forward, slashing horizontally at the dragon's head. To Fairy Tail's collective surprise, the dragon retreated back a few steps in order to avoid the swing. It then lunged its head forward, jaws snapping, and the man raised his shield and braced against the attack. And brace he did, for though the dragon's attack collided into his shield and managed to forcibly push him back several feet, the man stood fast and countered with a stab at the dragon's head, which was now within easy striking range. He managed to score a deep wound, but one that was ultimately more painful than it was serious, and it only caused the dragon to screech angrily as it reeled its head back in pain.

In that narrow window of opportunity, the man shouted three, strange words: "Yoor Tool Shul!"

Fire erupted from the man's mouth, similar to that of Natsu's own breath attack, though more concentrated and narrow in scope. It hit the dragon, and it snarled as it let loose a fire breath of its own. Slowly, the dragon's fire breath pushed back the stranger's, until the midway point, at which point the two breaths were stalemated. After nearly half a minute of that contest of breaths, both fire breaths dispersed.

"Who is that guy?" Erza said in shock. "A Dragonslayer like Natsu?"

"No," Gajeel was the one to answer. "I don't know who or what he is, but he's no Dragonslayer."

"But since he fighting that dragon, he can't be a bad person, right?" Wendy asked the group.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu said eagerly. "Let's go help that guy! This is our chance to kick that dragon's butt!"

"Agreed," Erza said more calmly. "Fairy Tail! Charge!"

A wordless, collective shout of agreement and fighting spirit sprang up from the members of Fairy Tail, as those healthy enough to fight began rushing forward, while only a few remained behind to help those too wounded to fight escape. Wendy was amongst the former, and she cried out in an uncharacteristic battle cry as she charged forward.

Both dragon and man noticed Fairy Tail's charge. The dragon reared his head back, as his chest expanded. The man saw this action, and cried out in his mysterious language towards the mages of Fairty Tail. No one there but the dragon understood what he was saying, but his voice carried an obvious tone of fear and warning. From that, it was clear what he was trying to say.

"Look out!"

Whether it be from the man's warning or just the obvious action of the dragon, the mages all understood what to do, and they scattered quickly. However, Wendy had only just recently finished healing as many of her wounded comrades as possible before the dragon had attacked, and she was still tired from that fact. Thus, when Wendy tried to dodge to the side, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Wendy!" Natsu shouted in panic.

A beam of pure, destructive light shot out of the dragon's mouth, aimed straight at Wendy. The Sky Dragonslayer's eyes went wide open as she watched her own impending doom rapidly approach her. She screamed wordlessly.

"Wuld!" Wendy heard the stranger shout. And suddenly, he was in front of her, shield raised, his body positioned to protect hers completely.

The breath attack struck the shield and, surprisingly, did not shatter it. The man cried out from the strain of the effort as he struggled to stand against the godlike power of the dragon's breath attack.

When the breath attack finally stopped, it seemed to have taken all of the stranger's strength in order to do so. The ethereal armor faded and disappeared, and the man collapsed forward into the ground, unmoving.

"Dovahkiin," the dragon rumbled, as if it were sneering at the stranger. "Mey."

With that, the dragon flew high up into the sky, leaving them in a strange peace, like the kind that came after a storm.

"Are you all right?" Wendy said urgently as she put her hands on the man's back and began healing him. "Please, please don't die!"

"It's not over!" Gajeel suddenly shouted. "A breath attack is incoming!"

Wendy's head snapped upward. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the dragon preparing to unleash a powerful breath attack.

"Everyone who can use defensive spells, put all your power into it right now!" Erza ordered immediately.

Following up on that order, Lisanna also cried out, "Everyone! Focus all your magical energy on Fried!"

"Let's join hands!" Mirajane also said.

Everyone immediately gathered around the fallen stranger, and they formed a circle of joined hands. In doing so, they were able to connect more easily with one another and send their magical power towards Fried, who began casting his defensive spell. A part of Wendy knew that this would ultimately be useless, as there was no way that whatever makeshift defensive spell they formed could hold against the dragon's breath, but another, stronger part of herself wanted to believe. To believe in her friends and comrades, and to believe that they would survive to see another day.

"We can't let it end here!" Natsu shouted with determination.

"We'll never give up!" Lucy cried out.

"Everyone!" Gray said. "Join your power together as one! Let's show that dragon the bonds of our guild!"

A teary eyed Makarov smiled. "We'll all go home together..."

A bright light shone down on them, and Wendy saw no more.


	2. Time Begins

"Nngh," Wendy moaned as she slowly opened her eyes.

Looking around, she saw that the rest of her guild members were also slowly starting to wake up, though they were scattered around the area. Upon hearing loud, teary shouts of joy, she turned blearily to look at the source of the noise.

It looked like... Jet and Droy and a few other members of Fairy Tail. And yet, they also looked different. They all looked older than before, as if they had aged years. In Droy's case, he had gotten extremely fat, causing Wendy to wonder how in the world he could have gained so much weight so quickly. More importantly, why were they here?

"You guys!" Jet cried out joyfully. "You guys are all alive!"

Alive? Wendy looked down at her hands and clenched them. Yes, she was indeed alive.

But how?

"Is everyone okay?" Wendy heard Erza call out. Affirmative responses came back from the rest of Fairy Tail.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Doin' all right here."

"Still alive."

"What's going on?" Wendy said. "How are we still alive?"

"Fairy Sphere."

All eyes turned towards the new voice. Floating a few feet above the ground, a short girl in a white dress and with wings coming out of her head (which Wendy assumed were some kind of accessory), smiled benevolently down on them. Gently, she landed on the ground and began speaking.

"My name is Mavis Vermillion," the girl said as the members of Fairy Tail began gathering before her. "The first master of Fairy Tail."

Wendy blinked as the words slowly sunk in. Then, she cried out with a loud "Ehhh!?" Similar outbursts came from the rest of Fairy Tail. Unbelievable, Wendy thought with eyes wide open. If this person was telling the truth, if she really was Mavis, who was already dead, then that meant that she was a ghost!

"Back then, when the dragon unleashed his attack," Mavis continued, "I took the power and strength of everyone's bonds and faith and converted all of it directly into magical power. It was thanks to that that one of the three great fairy magics, Fairy Sphere, was activated; an absolute defensive spell that protects against any and all evils. However, the spell also sealed away all those within it in a frozen state. Though it may seem to you all as if not even a day has gone by, it has actually already been seven years."

Wendy's eyes went wide. Seven years? They've been asleep on Tenrou Island for seven years? At least that explained why Jet and Droy and the others had changed so much, appearance-wise.

"What now? So the First protected us, huh?" Master Makarov said in a tearful voice.

"Not at all," Mavis replied. "I am only an ethereal body; a spirit. It was the power of everyone's feelings that allowed this to happen. Faith and bonds; that is what allows miracles to take place." Mavis smiled more broadly, happily. "It's become a wonderful guild, Third."

"Thank you, First," Makarov said, tears of joy streaming down his face.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, there is a stranger here that I think you guys should help," Mavis said, pointing past them. "I would hate for someone who has helped those of my guild to simply die." With that, she suddenly disappeared from sight, as if blinking out of existence.

"Oh!" Wendy cried out.

Turning around, Wendy noticed that the stranger had not yet stirred from his own slumber. Wendy quietly berated herself as she quickly went over to the man's side. Because she and everyone else had awakened without injury from Acnologia's breath attack, she had unconsciously and automatically assumed that the stranger was fine as well. She had forgotten, however, that just before that last breath attack, he had given his all to protect her, and might have been severely injured because of it, despite his armor and shield.

_How careless of me,_ Wendy thought as she began casting healing magic on the unconscious man.

"Is he going to be all right?" Erza asked from behind her.

"Mmm..." Wendy furrowed her brow as she concentrated on sending her healing magics coursing through the man's body, searching out and mending any injury that she could find. "Yes. He has a lot of injuries, but I can heal them. He mostly just suffering from exhaustion."

"That's good," Erza sighed with relief. "Whoever he is, we owe him our lives."

"But really; who _is_ he?" Levy said. "It sounded as if he and that dragon knew each other. He called it 'Alduin,' and the dragon called him 'Dovahkiin.' Have any of you ever heard of them before?"

As the members of Fairy Tail continued to converse around them, Wendy kept her focus trained on healing the man. Or at least, she tried to. As she continued healing him, she couldn't help but let her mind wander. Alduin. Dovahkiin. She did not know of these terms, yet they seemed... familiar. As if she might have heard the words once before, but had long since forgotten. Though she continued racking her mind over the matter, nothing came to mind, and soon her healing finished.

"Ergh..." the armored man groaned as he slowly blinked his eyes open. Laboriously, he sat up and took off his horned helmet, revealing his dark brown hair and a foreigner's face, and rubbed his temple as if he was suffering from a headache. Blearily, he looked around at the Fairy Tail mages with a look of vague confusion on his face.

"Are you all right?" Wendy asked.

The man stared at Wendy for a moment, and then his eyes opened as he seemed to remember something. He shot up to his feet, sword already in hand and whirled around, his eyes scanning the sky almost frantically.

"Alduin!" he cried. "Hvor er Alduin?"

"Sorry, what?" Wendy said.

With an impatient look, the man pointed at the sky with his sword, and then at the ground where the dragon had landed, repeating once more, "Alduin! Alduin! Hvor er Alduin?"

"Can anyone understand what this guy is saying?" Natsu said.

"I think he's asking about that dragon," Wendy said.

Running a hand through his hair frustratedly, the man looked to be becoming increasingly agitated as everyone talked around him, conversing amongst themselves in a language foreign to him as they speculated who this man was and why he was here on Tenrou Island.

"Well, here, let me try something," Levy said as she approached the man and began inscribing magic letters in the air in front of the man. "I think I can probably cast some kind of translation spell so we can at least understand each other."

Upon seeing the glowing letters appear before him, traced out by Levy's fingers, the man's eyes went wide with surprise and he reacted instantly. And violently. His sword was like a blur as it stopped the barest of distance from Levy's neck, a thin scarlet line appearing where it had stopped. Levy's eyes widened as she quickly stepped away from the man, her hand coming up to stem the steady trickle of blood flowing down from her neck.

"Levy!" Gajeel shouted as Wendy hurried to heal Levy's fresh wound. Gajeel turned on the stranger angrily. "Hey, what the hell are you doing!?"

The man snarled out a few, accusatory words, glaring around at the rest of Fairy Tail, who were now tensing at the sudden assault. Just as the tension seemed to reach its peak, however, a burst of light and smoke appeared in front of them all, and a man dressed in a black formal suit, dark sunglasses, and with wild, untamed hair suddenly appeared.

"Daedra?" the man said in surprise.

"Loki?" Lucy said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Sorry, Lucy," the Lion Stellar Spirit said. "Let me just get things cleared up a bit first." He turned to the stranger and then, to everyone's surprise, began speaking in the same language as the man. As he spoke, the tension on the man's face visibly disappeared, and he slowly lowered and sheathed his sword. Turning back to Levy, Loki said, "All right. You can continue with your spell now."

"Right," Levy nodded as she began her spell once again.

"Loki?" Lucy said. "What's going on? How do you know his language?"

"It's better if I explain after the spell finishes," Loki said.

Though confused, Lucy nodded in understanding and waited patiently as Levy continued her spell. After about ten minutes, the spell finished. The runic letters that had steadily accumulated in the air around the man began swirling faster and faster, and then suddenly absorbed themselves into the man's body.

"Can you understand what I'm saying now?" Levy asked cautiously.

The man blinked at Levy, and then said in his deep, baritone voice, "What a strange magic. Such type I have never heard of before. In any case, I apologize for attacking you earlier. I did not recognize your spell and thought it to be some sort of attack."

"Apology accepted," Levy said cheerfully.

"And you," the man turned to Loki. "You do not look like any Daedra I've seen before."

"Daedra?" Lucy said. "Oh no, Loki isn't a 'Daedra.' He's a Stellar Spirit. Right, Loki?"

"... Daedra, eh?" Loki said quietly. "It's been a long, long time since I've heard that word."

"Loki?" Lucy looked at her Loki confusedly.

"Yes, I am a Daedra," Loki continued. "I serve the one you would know as Azura, Lady of Twilight; Mistress of the Dusk and Dawn. Though now she also goes by the name the Stellar Spirit King. You being her champion, she has bidden me to come and explain to you what has happened. My name is Loki, one of her appointed twelve."

"I am Ysmir," the man replied. "Forgive me, but I don't have time to listen. I must leave now. I need to pursue Alduin."

"Alduin... Do you mean that big dragon from before?" Wendy asked.

"Yes," Ysmir said, his jaw clenching angrily. "He's escaped me twice now. He will not do so a third time."

"Wait just a minute!" Natsu suddenly cried out. "You mean to say that you've met that dragon two times before? Then, do you know where Igneel and Metalicana and Grandine are?"

Ysmir looked at Natsu with a confused expression. "Who?"

"Everyone! Please, be quiet for a moment!" Loki called out loudly. He looked towards Ysmir. "Ysmir, you really do need to listen to this. Things are not as you think they are."

"What do you mean?" Ysmir said.

"In your fight with Alduin in Sovngarde, he used a Shout on you just as you were about to land the deathblow on him," Loki said. "That Shout did not merely send you back to Tamriel. It also flung you into the future."

Ysmir blinked. Then he sighed and rubbed his temples. "Shor's bones, Oblivion's gates, and Thorig's beard," he groaned. "How far? A month? A year? Two years? A decade, perhaps?"

"A millennium."

"What!?" Ysmir shouted.

"Loki," Lucy said, her eyes wide. "Are you saying that Ysmir is...?"

"Yes, Lucy," Loki said. "He's a man from the previous era; a history lost to nearly everyone in the world."

"Wait," Ysmir said urgently. "Then what about the Greybeards? The Blades? The Companions? The College of Winterhold? What about Skyrim and the Empire? Hell, what about the damn Thalmor?"

"They're all gone," Loki said calmly. "After Alduin sent you hurtling through time, there was no one left to stop him. He succeeded in destroying the world, thereby ushering in this era."

"No..." Ysmir whispered as he collapsed to his knees. "Then I... I failed?"

"Yes," Loki said quietly. Seeing Ysmir in a now near-catatonic state, Loki turned back to Lucy. "I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions to ask, but I'm afraid I can't say anymore. The Stellar Spirit King has only allowed me to speak this much because of Ysmir. If you want to know more, you'll have to get the answers from him. See you guys later."

With a faint popping sound, Loki disappeared back into the realm of the Stellar Spirits.

Hesitantly, Wendy reached out towards Ysmir, who had a vacant expression on his face, his eyes cast downward, empty and listless.

"Are you all right?" Wendy asked.

Ysmir did not respond. He didn't even stir.

It seemed that the news Loki had brought him had hurt him very badly. Wendy couldn't blame Ysmir, of course. She wasn't entirely certain about what exactly was going on, but if what Loki said was true, then Ysmir had tried to kill that dragon before, but did not succeed, resulting in everything he knew and loved being destroyed.

"Uh... So what should we do with him now, then?" Natsu asked the group in general. He crouched down beside Ysmir and lightly poked him in the side of his head. Ysmir did not even give an indication that he had noticed. Natsu poked him again and grinned. "Heh, this is kinda fun."

"Natsu, cut that out," Erza ordered sternly, knocking him on the head with a gauntlet-wrapped fist.

"Ow!" Natsu cried out.

"Master," Erza said. "We can't just leave him here. What would you like us to do?"

"Hm..." Makarov scratched the back of his head. "Well, for now why don't we just take him back with us? Let's take him back to Fairy Tail."


	3. Dragon and Fairy

_Author's Note:_

_For anyone still confused, Ysmir is a Nord; the same one that shows up in the game trailers. Also, it seems I made a mistake about Wendy's Exceed's name. Apparently, according to Wikipedia at least, her name is Carla, not Charle, so that's what I'll be going with from hereon. _

**-STORY START-**

Wendy looked around at the guild, smiling as she watched the constant, boisterous celebration that Fairy Tail had once been renowned for. Though seven years had passed, and though the building in which their guild now resided in had changed, the return of the core members of Fairy Tail from Tenrou Island had served as the spark that relighted the fiery spirit of the guild. But besides the change of years and residency, there was one other difference – one that was sitting by himself in the corner of this rundown tavern, staring listlessly into a mug of tepid beer with an expression more suited for that of a dead fish than a living human being.

"He's rather depressing, don't you think?" Carla commented from where they watched Ysmir at a separate table.

"It can't be helped," Wendy said, a faint tone of rebuke in her voice. "You can't expect him to be fine after he learned that everything he knew and love, all of his friends and family, his entire world, was destroyed."

Still, Wendy frowned, Carla had a point. Ysmir's current behavior could not be allowed to go on for much longer. It had been a little over a week since they had returned to Magnolia, and in that time Ysmir had slept very little, ate even less, and drank only enough to barely survive – perhaps less. For all intents and purposes, he may as well have been a statue, seeing as how he hardly ever moved from his seat. A living, breathing, and slowly dying statue.

Many Fairy Tail members had already tried speaking with him. Erza had attempted to strike up a polite conversation in order to try to learn more about Ysmir and see what she could do to help the time-lost man. Ysmir did not simply ignore her. He reacted as if he did not even notice her; that is to say, he did not react at all.

Master Makarov had also attempted to converse with Ysmir. The master, Wendy knew, was a good man who would not be able to bear watching such a young man (based on appearances, Wendy judged the man was likely in his mid-twenties) so clearly and obviously give in to despair. Like with Erza, Ysmir ignored Master Makarov as well.

And then there was Natsu. Of all those who tried to talk with Ysmir, he was by far the most prominent. In the Fire Dragonslayer's case, he had been insistent on finding out what Ysmir knew about Igneel. Ysmir did not so much as spare Natsu a glance, angering Natsu and forcing Erza had to step in to stop Natsu before he tried to fight with Ysmir. Natsu was simply too stubborn, though, even amongst the notably stubborn guild, and he continued to try to speak to Ysmir almost every day. By the fourth day, he was the only one who continued to try to speak with Ysmir. The rest of Fairy Tail had already realized that Ysmir simply did not want to speak with any of them, and so they quietly left him in peace. And though Ysmir had been left in peace by Natsu for one day, it had only been because Natsu left with Lucy (or rather, because he followed her) to visit Lucy's father. Once they returned, he had resumed trying to talk to Ysmir.

Yes, this definitely could not be allowed to go on. Somehow, someway, Wendy thought, she needed to snap Ysmir out of his funk. Of that she knew for certain. If not, she had a feeling he would continue to allow himself to slowly wither away like dust until he died, something he was currently making steady progress in. Already, heavy bags had formed underneath his pale blue eyes, which were bloodshot and sunken from lack of sleep. His dark brown hair had become matted and dirty and his face had lost its hale color and was starting to become gaunt from hunger and weakness. Additionally, the strange armor of bone that he wore seemed to weigh down heavily on his body, further proof that he was becoming too weak to bear the weight of that armor. All together, he gave the impression of a young man who had just aged several tens of years in the matter of only a few days. The change was visible, and extremely worrying.

Wendy clenched her small hands into tiny fists. Though Ysmir was a stranger, he had saved her life. How could she simply stand by and watch as her savior simply allowed himself to waste away in such a miserable manner? Wendy stood up resolutely. She could not. She absolutely could not allow that to happen.

"Wendy?" Carla said, looking up at the Sky Dragonslayer.

With determined steps, Wendy walked over to Ysmir, and she heard the noise around the guild slowly dim down to a more hushed tone as they watched the latest attempt at conversing with the ever-silent stranger. Like with the others, Ysmir made no move to show an acknowledgment of Wendy's presence. Wendy sat herself down across from Ysmir at his table.

Wendy wondered briefly about what to actually say. She had gotten this far, but she had not actually made a solid plan of what to do from here. She hesitated for only for a moment, though, before electing to simply say whatever was on her mind.

"Hi, my name is Wendy Marvell," Wendy introduced herself.

No response.

"I never thanked you for saving me back on Tenrou Island," Wendy continued. "So I wanted to do that now: thank you, Ysmir, for saving my life."

Ysmir stirred slightly for the first time, causing the already hushed sound of the guild to lower to an absolute silence as they watched with bated breath. However, the motion was only enough for Ysmir to briefly flick the gaze of his tired eyes at Wendy, before returning to stare at his drink.

"You know, you really do need to eat and sleep," Wendy said with concern. "It's not healthy for you to keep going as you are."

Silence.

"Please say something," Wendy pleaded. "Are you trying to die? Don't you want to live?"

"... No," Ysmir whispered hoarsely.

Wendy's eyes widened. Finally. Finally he spoke. From all around the room, her friends and comrades were now watching with keen interest. But... his answer was not one that she wanted to hear.

"Why?" Wendy said. "Why don't you want to live?"

"There's no point anymore," Ysmir replied quietly. "Now please leave me alone."

"But-" Wendy began to say, when she suddenly heard heavy stomping sounds approaching them. Turning towards the source of the noise, Wendy saw Natsu coming over. And he was absolutely furious. That was evident from the wisps of smoke that was being emitted by his body, a common trait for the Fire Dragonslayer whenever he was sufficiently angry, and the expression on his face, which was twisted with rage and anger. "Natsu?" Wendy said in surprise.

"Hey, you bastard," Natsu said as he slammed his hand down on the table and glared down at Ysmir. "So what? Because you lost against that dragon you're just giving up? Are you that much of a coward that you want to die because of just one failure?"

The light of hellish anger flashed in Ysmir's eyes as he stood up and, being taller than Natsu, glared hatefully down at the young Dragonslayer.

"Watch what you say, you brat," Ysmir snarled. "What the hell do you know about me?"

"I know that you're moping pathetically," Natsu said, not budging an inch. "I know that you're trying to die in the lamest way possible. There's no point in you living? Don't fuck with me. You're just trying to run away because you're scared of that dragon. You're just a coward."

Something in Ysmir snapped, and he swung his fist, catching Natsu squarely across the face and sending him stumbling backward a few steps. But after his week-long period of near starvation, Ysmir simply did not have the strength to do more than that. Natsu, having suffered far stronger attacks before, looked nearly unfazed by the sudden assault.

"You don't know anything!" Ysmir shouted furiously. "Everyone was counting on me! My friends! My comrades! Even my enemies and those who have never heard of me! Millions of unborn lives! Entire civilizations, countries and continents! They were all counting on me to kill Alduin to save them all, whether they knew it or not! And because of my mistake, that damned dragon got the better of me! Because of my failure, they all died! All of them! An entire world! What the hell do you understand!?"

Quietly, Natsu stepped up to Ysmir, and for a moment, Wendy feared he was about to hit Ysmir back. Given Ysmir's current physical weakness, Wendy wasn't certain he would be able to handle such an assault, especially from Natsu who had a notoriously hard time holding back his strength. In fact, it was simply more accurate to say that he did not know _how_ to hold back . Wendy moved to stop the conflict when she suddenly felt a metallic hand placed on her shoulder. Looking up, Wendy saw that it was Erza that had grabbed her. Silently and slowly, she shook her head, telling Wendy not to interrupt.

Instead of attacking, Natsu spoke in a calm manner entirely unusual for the normally hot-headed man.

"If I were in your shoes," Natsu said, "I wouldn't give up. Your world is dead? Fine. Then take revenge on that dragon. And if you need another reason besides that, then look around. We're here. We're alive. Even if the world you knew is gone, there's a new one now. And if I were you, this time I wouldn't let that dragon destroy it again. Letting that happen would be the true failure."

Ysmir froze, his jaws clenched tightly and his hands tightly balled into fists. For a moment, he trembled visibly with anger. Wendy fidgeted nervously, hoping that a fight wasn't about to break out. Then Ysmir sighed and relaxed his body, allowing the trembling to stop.

"You're right," Ysmir breathed as he collapsed back into his chair and leaned his head against his hand. "Yeah, you're absolutely right. Precisely because I've already failed once, I need to make sure I don't fail again." As if in response to its master's sudden newly found will, or perhaps simply due to the physical effort of moving in such a violent manner, Ysmir's stomach growled loudly, permeating the silence of the room. Ysmir grinned sheepishly and looked around the room. "I don't suppose I could get some food, could I? I'm feeling hungry."

The room burst into laughter as a smiling Mirajane quickly appeared bearing a large plate of hot food and a mug of cold water. Ysmir began digging into the meal voraciously, and as he ate the rest of Fairy Tail began gathering around.

"Hey, Ysmir," Levy said. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Go ahead," Ysmir answered as he chewed on his food.

"When you and Acnologia – I mean, the dragon you called 'Alduin' – were fighting, it seemed to call you something," Levy said. "'Dovahkiin,' I think it was? What does that mean?"

Ysmir swallowed his food before answering.

"It's a word in the language of dragons that refers to what I am," Ysmir said. "'Dovah' means 'dragon' and 'kiin' means born. Thus translated, it means 'Dragonborn.'"

"Dragonborn?" Natsu interjected. "Is that like a Dragonslayer?"

"Dragonslayer?" Ysmir cocked his head. "Well, I do kill dragons, so I am a dragon slayer, if that's what you mean."

"Dragonslayer refers to a person who uses a special type of magic made specifically for killing dragons," Levy clarified. "It's a lost magic, and really rare."

"Oh," Ysmir said. "Then no. I am not a 'Dragonslayer.' I've never even heard of such a magic."

"I see," Levy muttered as she jotted down some notes in a notebook. "So Dragonslayers didn't exist in your era, eh?" Levy looked back up at Ysmir. "What's a Dragonborn then?"

Wait a minute. Wendy brought a hand to her temple as her thoughts raced through her mind, and the world seemed to freeze around her as something finally began to click in her head. Dovahkiin. Dragonborn. She knew that term. She was sure of it now. She had heard of it once before. But where?

_Muu..._ Wendy screwed up her face in concentration.

In the deep recesses of Wendy's mind, she tried hard to recall the long buried memories. Dovahkiin. She knew that word because... Of course, Wendy realized. Because it was a word in the language of dragons. And if it was about the dragon language, then she most probably heard it from Grandine herself. When? Why?

_It was... a story, I think?_ Wendy thought. _A story about...?_

And then Wendy finally remembered.

"Dragonborn!" Wendy suddenly declared. "The one the dragons fear!"

"Wendy?" Levy said. "You know what a Dragonborn is?"

"Yes," Wendy nodded. "Grandine told me the story about it before, but because she only told it to me once a very long time ago, I had forgotten. According to her, a long, long time ago there used to be a special type of human who, though they looked like humans, were actually dragons, and that this being was the one that all dragons feared above all else. At the time, I thought she was just talking about Dragonslayers, but now I know that's not the case."

Natsu whirled around to stare intently at Ysmir. "You're a dragon?" he said incredulously. "But... you don't look like a dragon."

"Well, yes and no," Ysmir said, looking amused by the question. "Specifically, being a Dragonborn means that I have the body of a mortal, but the blood and soul of a dragon. That characteristic is what makes me the only one that can kill dragons permanently by eating their soul."

"You eat dragon souls?" Natsu cried out in shock. Then he paused, and leaned in as if he was about to discuss an important secret. "Does it taste good?"

"It was a figure of speech," Ysmir chided. "More accurately, I absorb the soul in order to gain some of its knowledge and power."

"Then, do you know about Igneel?" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"And what about Metalicana?" Gajeel said, slamming his hands on the table.

"And Grandine?" Wendy asked. "Do you know where Grandine might have gone?"

Ysmir shook his head. "I have never heard of any dragons go by those names," Ysmir said. "But about that... Are you certain those are their real names?"

"Of course those are their names," Natsu snorted. "Igneel told me his name himself."

"Who are they to you?" Ysmir asked the three Dragonslayers.

"Igneel is my dad," Natsu said.

Ysmir blinked. "A dragon... is your father?" He looked at Gajeel and Wendy. "And you two as well? This 'Metalicana' and 'Grandine' are you parents?"

"Yeah."

"Yes," Wendy said. "Though, they're only our adoptive parents."

"This is rather... strange, then," Ysmir said as he rubbed his temples. "Not even Paarthurnax would have taken a human as his child, and he is the most human-friendly dragon I've ever known. And the names are also abnormal. Things must have changed much more than I thought since my era."

"What do you mean?" Levy asked as she continued frantically writing in her journal that held notes about everything that had been said so far.

"The names of all dragons are made up of three words," Ysmir explained. "For example, Alduin is a combination of 'Al,' 'Du,' and 'In,' which means 'Destroyer,' 'Devour,' and 'Master' respectively in the dragons' language. Even the name 'Dovahkiin' follows this rule. 'Dov' means dragonkind; 'Ah' means hunter; and 'kiin' means born. Together, they mean 'born hunter of dragonkind.' But Igneel, Metalicana, and Grandine? None of those names follows that rule. So either those are false names, or the way dragons name themselves has changed a lot since my time."

"What? So you don't know anything?" Natsu sighed, depressed. "Damn, just when I thought I had found a clue about where Igneel is..."

"My apologies," Ysmir said sympathetically.

As Ysmir and the rest of Fairy Tail continued to talk and become better acquainted, Wendy let out a sigh of relief. Thanks to Natsu, Ysmir seemed to be back to normal. And if not, at least he regained his verve and will to live. That alone was good enough. However, there was one other thing that Wendy was curious about.

"Hey, Ysmir," Wendy said. "What do you plan on doing after this?"

"I'll chase Alduin and kill him for certain this time," Ysmir answered promptly.

"Do you know where he is or where he might have gone?" Wendy asked.

"I..." Ysmir paused, and then admitted a little sheepishly, "No, I don't."

"What? You were going to go on a wild goose chase without even a clue of where to begin? How reckless," Carla scoffed. "Well, I suppose in this case, the term would be 'wild dragon chase.'"

"I suppose so," Ysmir agreed. "Last time, I had the help of several comrades and mentors who were able to help point me in the right direction. Unfortunately, this time I'm on my own."

"That seems like it'll be difficult," Wendy frowned. "I mean, you don't know anything about the world anymore, do you?"

"No. No, I do not," Ysmir said with a rueful sigh.

"I know!" Wendy said. "Why don't you join Fairy Tail, then? Joining a guild is the best way to learn more about the world and to gather clues, after all."

"Join... Fairy Tail?" Ysmir frowned, brows furrowed.

"Oh! Good idea, Wendy!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"I agree as well," Erza said.

More sounds of general agreement came from the rest of Fairy Tail. Ysmir looked around at the guild with a hesitant look on his face.

"Thank you for the offer," Ysmir said slowly, deliberately, "but I really cannot afford to allow Alduin to remain alive for even a second longer than I must. Even if I don't know where he is now, I'm certain that if I travel enough, I'll be able to pick up his trail. Therefore, I must decline your offer."

"Hm... Well, wait a moment," Makarov said, approaching the Dragonborn. "If that's what you truly wish to do, I won't stop you, but I do ask that you think it over a little more carefully. With not a clue of where to begin, how do you plan on beginning your journey? Without comrades, do you plan on fighting on your own?"

"Even so," Ysmir said. "I cannot simply allow Alduin to roam free. Who knows what destruction he is causing even as we speak."

"Yes, I understand that," Makarov nodded. "But do you mind if I ask you something? Do you know a guild is, Ysmir?"

"A guild?" Ysmir echoed, puzzled by the strange question. "That's an organization of people who share a common interest."

Makarov shook his head. "It's much more than just that. A guild is a family; a place where comrades forge bonds stronger than that of even blood. The pain of one member is the pain of all its members, and the joy of one is the joy of all. In a guild, we work to help each other through thick and thin, no matter what we are up against. I understand that you wish to hunt down Acnologia – I mean, Alduin – but whether you decide to pursue that path on your own or with comrades at your side is a choice that you have."

Ysmir bit his lower lip in thought for a moment, before nodding once. "You're right. And it's true that there is little sense in journeying aimlessly. Then, if you will allow, I would like to join Fairy Tail."


End file.
